There are three methods you can use to estimate how tall your child will be in adulthood. While none of the methods is perfect, any will be able to give you some idea of how tall your kids might be when they grow up. You can even use all three methods and see how they compare. More importantly, these are helpful tools your pediatrician can use to spot when your kids aren’t growing well. For example, if your child has the genetic potential to be 6 feet 2 inches, but is following a growth curve that will put him at 5 feet 6 inches, your doctor may want to investigate a possible cause for this. Many factors can influence your children’s future growth, including their overall health and nutritional status as well as their genetic potential. To predict your child’s height with this method: The result is their predicted height. For example, if your child is 34 inches tall when they are 2 years old, it is possible for them to be 68 inches (5 feet 8 inches) tall as an adult. To predict your child’s height with this method: The result is their predicted adult height. For example, if a boy is 43 inches tall at age 6 (the 10th percentile), then you could possibly expect him to be 66 inches (5 feet 6 inches) tall as an adult (the 25th percentile at 19 to 20 years old). To predict your child’s height with this method: The result is your child’s predicted height. For example, if mom is 5 feet 2 inches (62 inches) and dad is 5 feet 8 inches (68 inches), the average is 65 inches or 5 feet 5 inches. The equation is: (62 inches + 68 inches) / 2 = 65 inches. In this case, you might expect the kids to be:
Boys: 5 feet 7 1/2 inchesGirls: 5 feet 2 1/2 inches
How precise is this method? It’s not, of course. Another limitation is that you have to know how tall a child’s birth parents are for this calculation to work. This can make it impossible if you don’t know the height of their genetic parents, as may be the case for adoptions or assisted fertility procedures with donor sperm or eggs.
